Morocco and FAO organize the first International Conference on South-South Cooperation

Cairo, 9 December 2014 – In a climate of growing cooperation between countries of the global South, Morocco steps up its commitment to support food security and boost agricultural development across African countries.

After the signature of a South-South Cooperation Agreement with FAO and the establishment of an ad hoc trust fund earlier this year, the Kingdom of Morocco holds the first International Conference on South-South Cooperation.  (Marrakesh, 13 – 14 of December 2014)

The Director General of the FAO, Mr. Graziano da Silva, the Ministers of Agriculture of over twenty African countries and China will attend the event that will be held under the patronage of the King Mohammed VI and organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Fisheries in collaboration with the FAO.

Sharing solutions and best practices

Morocco, like a growing number of developing countries during the last decade, agrees on exchanging, through the FAO South-South Cooperation Programme, development solutions and successful experiences in the agriculture and food security sectors to contribute to hunger and poverty reduction in African countries.

“The Green Morocco Plan”, seen as the engine behind Morocco’s achievement of the first millennium development goal hunger target, will be shared as a best practice for the promotion, in neighbor African countries, of sustainable growth in agricultural production and a possible means to support the development of family farming and food security.

The Moroccan government is committed to take SSC to new heights in the region also in sectors related to irrigation and water management in which the country has developed a major hydro-agricultural infrastructure to cope with scarce natural resources and the looming threats posed by climate change.

“There is no doubt, tangible and concrete results will unfold thanks to this Conference. This event represents an important milestone of the FAO and Morocco partnership in SSC” says Michael Hage, FAO Representative to Morocco, “the Conference is an important occasion to open to new opportunities of cooperation in an arena where every country has a role to play”, he adds.